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w. F. WALLING. v METHOD OF PRODUC lNG IMITHWE TiLEfLOORIlJG A ND THE LIKE.

APPLICAHON m'zb my 31. 1912'. Q I 1,31 1,362. v Patented July 29, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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WITNESSES ATTORNEY w.- F. WALLIN-G. METHOD OF PRODUCING IMITATWE TILE FLbORING AND THE LIKE.

Patented July 29, 1919.

APPLICATION FILED MAYBE. 1911- 1,311,362.

' 2 SHEETSSIHEET 2.

III" I" WITNESSES ATTO R N EY UNITED. STATES PATENT carton.

WILLIAM m1) watn'nm, or LOS menus, camronma, asszeivon To TEE camoemn company, or LOS ANGELES, camronnm, acoraarnnasnrz.

METHOD OF PRODUCING IMITATIVE-TILE FLOORING AND THE LIKE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, W'ILLIAM F. WALLING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Method of Producing Imitative- Tile Flooring and the like, of which the following is a specification. 4

This invention has reference to the method of producing imitative tile flooring, walls, or other coverings, and its ob ect is to provide a tile covering for a floor or wall, which instead of being made of individual tiles, is of monolithic character and so closely simulates the covering composed of individual tiles as to defy detection from casual observation.

The invention comprises the production directly upon a suitable concrete sub-base o'f a coating capable of. being applied and troweled off, which coating may be produced in cement or other plastic material with. or without coloring matter incorpo rated therein, and with grooves in the surfacing simulating tile outlines and filled with strongly adherent cement or other plastic material outlining tile forms either conventional or fanciful.

For the sake of simplicity of description it will be considered that the'matter used is cement, and that the tile forms are hexagonal, although, of course, it is to be understood that the invention is not thereby limited to any particular material or any particular form.

' As large an area as can be conveniently worked at one time is laid, it being also for convenience of description considered that a tile flooring is to be produced, although the invention is applicable to roadways or walks. or valls. I v

When the sub-base first produced, and which may be formed of concrete in the usual manner, has sufficiently hardened, a .web of tile forms is laid upon the sub-base,

surh tile forms being made up of as man separate units as may be convenient, wit

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 31, 1917. Serial No. 171,947.

'ing so that after Patented July 29, 1919.

molds are oiled to prevent cement from adhering thereto. Moreover, the web units or forms may be of peculiar construction, as will hereinafter appear. Then a surfacing of cementof suitable quality is applied and troweled off to provide the final finish. After a time the surfacing hardens sufficiently to hold its shape, and then the tile forms and molds, which are made of metal, are removed, this being facilitated by the oil coating, and the surfacing is left with a web of grooves corresponding to the tile forms or molds.

By having the troweled surface coated with shellac. or paraffin, solution in a substance such as gasolene or benzene, there is provided a protecting coatthe surfacing is sufficiently hardened, a grouting of cement may be applied to the grooves to fill them to the surface, and this grouting being smoothed'off and the outer coating of shellac or paraffin removed by a suitable solvent, the surface is left in imitation of a tile surface and, so ta). as ordinary observation goes, a genuine tile surface. Because of the manner of forming the surface no smoothing down with a rubhing stone is necessary.

Almost any effect producible with tiles may beobtained with the invention, with the advantage that there is provided a flooring or pther covering lithic quality which may be produced upon a large scale and at a far less cost .than genuine tiling. Another advantage possessed by the invention is that loosening such asoccurs with individually. laid tilesdoes not occur.

The invention will he, best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of of practically monoends of two connected mold webs.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan View of a small portion of a web for forming or molding the tile surfacing and disclosing the mode of covering a large surface With relatively small web units.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1, but drawn on a much larger scale.

Fig. 3 is a section similar to Fig. 2 but showing the appearance when the tile molds have been filled.

Fig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. 3; but with at protecting coating of paraffin or the like applied and the mold web removed.

Fig-5 is a section similar to those of the other figures, but showing the grooves left by the removal of the tile forming web filled in with grouting.

' Figs. 6 and 7 are matching tile moldsections for the production of fancy effects.

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is 'a section on the line 99 of Fig. 7. v

Fig. 10 is a section through the adjacent Figs. 11 and 12 are perspective'views of small fragments of mold webs illustrating .ment of a pavement or other covering,

especially where the tile forms are of relatively large size. Referring to the drawings there is shown a web unit 1 made up of connected bars 2 of approximately triangular crosssection, but these bars, although they may be of somewhat elongatedwedge shape in crosssecti'on, are preferably shaped'as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3 and others of the figures. The bars 2 may be of greater height than width, or otherwise proportioned, and taper from a top surface 3 toward a bottom edge Figs. 2 and 3 and others of the figures. The

topcdge 25 is concaved for a purpose which will hereinafter appear, and a portion of the side walls of each bar is concaved, as indicated at 5, the concavity extending from a pointsomewhat below the top surface of the barto a point near the lower edge 4, such concavities or channels being for a purpose which will presently appear.

The bars 2 are arranged in the particular showing of the drawings to provide a series of hexagonal tile molds 6, each series including such a number of molds 6 as may be provided without rendering the mold unit made up of such number of molds inconvenient to handle. Each mold unit has certain marginal bars 2 provided with pins 7 best shown in Figs. 10 and 11, and other latter has a channel 11 into which the slot 10 opens, and of a size and shape to accommodate a respective pin 7. By such means as many tile mold web units-as may be convenientl y managed may be laid upon a foundation, indicated at 12 in Figs. 2 to 5, with the various units connected together against accidental displacement.

The foundation 12 may be made of concrete or other suitable material, of which concrete may be taken as an example for convenience of description, and the bars 2 of the tile mold webs are then of a height, consideringtheir installed position as sub stantially level, representing the thickness of the floor surfacing to be laid. Before the tile mold webs, which aremade of a suitable metal, are placed in position on the. foundation or sub-case 12, they are oiled, so that the material constituting the surfacing of the floor will not adhere to them.

Now, a relat-ivelysoft plastic material, such as wet cement, is filled into-the mold spaces 6 and the filling is troweled off, even with the then exposed surfaces of the webs.

The concavities or channels 5 pocket some air which during the trowelin-g cannot escape, wherefore the filling in each mold.

which filling ultimately represents a tile,

does not firmly contact with the upright walls ofthe mold, and hence there is a greatly lessened resistance to the ultimate removal of the mold from the set tile surfacing. Thesc air pockets also assist during the troweling in permitting an accurate smoothing of the exposed surface of the filling and the edges of the filling adjacent to the surfaces 3 are made sharp and clear by the shearing action of the trowel in passing from the filling surface to the hollow or-concave faces of the bars 2. The sharply distinct edges of the grooves, which are formed by the metal webs, and which remain after the webs are removed from the surface, obviate the necessity of grinding of the surface as a final finish.

After the surfacing has hardened sufficiently to hold its shape without liability of damage, a coating of alcohol shellac or of parafiin dissolved in some volatile solvent, such as gasolene or benzene, is applied to the exposed surface, and if applied in a warm state 'Will sink into the exposed surface for a distance. Such coating is indi The pins 7 are tective purposes, as will hereinafter appear,

and that part which does not sink intov the surfacing material indicated at 14 may be washed off with such material as the solvent en'iployed in connection with the paraffin or shellac. The sunken-in portion of the coating 18 is indicated at 15. When the web mold is removed from the surfacing 14, such surfacing is covered with a corresponding web of grooves 15 in conformity with the shape of the mold employed, but these grooves are sharp and well defined, thereby differentiating from grooves formed by impressing molds into a soft surfacing.

When the surfacing has suliicieutl-v hardened the grooves are filled with grouting 17 indicated in Fig. 5, which may be trowelcd even with the surface of the filling 14, which latter composes the tiles. The filling 17 is usually of an appearance contrasting with the appearance of the tiles. it bein; customary when the tiles are white or of a light color to use a black filling for the grooves, thereby strongly outlining the tiles. Where thetiles are of some color, then the groove filling 17 may be either black or'white or some contrasting color.

When the soft surface coating 14 is poured into the molds 6 the setting, concrete, in the case of a concrete or cement base 12,

' being in a semi-setting condition, almost instantly absorbs moisture from the bottom of the surface coating, leaving the top surface soft. The bottom adheres to the con crete sub-base by suction, and is seldom moved from where it first falls. but forms a strongly adherent and substantially homogeneous mass with the sub-base. lVhen troweiing begins, the surface of the tile mass H is forced out to meet the walls or sides of the mold. the result being that the top, which is the softest, is spread out and reaches th top and widest part of the walls of the mold first. thus pocketing air in the air chambers formed by the channels 5, so that the air therein below the surface of the filling l-l has no chance to escape. The harder the troweling. the less chance for the escape of air in the air chambers formed by the channels thus permitting prolonged troweling! without causing: the cement or other plastic to adhere to the side Walls of the bars 2. rm this reason the frames or molds may be left in the setting mass until the last trowciing or finish has been applied, and then they can he removed without disturbing" or. injuring the edges of the "loves thereby produced, since these edges will have become by such time hard enough n be ractically beyond harm.

Surfaces of very considerable extent may lie-finished at one time, but if it should be too extensive it maybe done in relatively large sections.

The purpose of the coating 13 is to protect the surface of the formed tiles, while 'the grouting 17 is being placed in the grooves 16, thus avoiding staining and the necessity of subsequent grinding, since it is customary to have the grouting of contrasting appearance to that of the tile filling 14.

The coating 13 may he applied with a brush or a rag. but experience has shown that a rag is perhaps the best means for the purpose, as hyits use the parafiin can be kept out of the grooves more effectively than if a brush be used, and the walls and edges of the grooves are thereby left in a condition that the grout adheres firmly to them without liability of the grout staining the surface of the tile forms.

In the case of shellac the coating 13 may be removed with alcohol after the surface has set. However, a parailin coating is preferred as it leaves a fine finish, is cheaper than shellac, is excellentfor waterproofing, and when applied hot acts a color preservative of the plastic.

In thev foregoing there has been described a method of and means for producing a substantially monolithic tile surface of monochrome appearance with the tiles outlined by some contrasting material. If uncolored cement he used for the tiles and black be used for the filling, and the cement em ployed be of a fine quality. such as Kecnes cement, the effect is that of tiles with a matte surface of white with black outlines, if blacli' be the chosen ingredient of the grout; filling.

It is often desirable to produce tile effects in various colors. ()ne means for the purpose is shown in Figs. (3 to 9, in which, in Figs. (5 and 8, there is shown a unit made up of tile molds ll grouped in a chosen design and having solid portions 6*. so that with the upper surfaces of the solid portions 6" fiush with the top'edges of the molds 6. and the parts otherwise being similar to the arrangement of Fig. 1 and other figures of the drawing. there can he produced upon the sub-base 12 groups of tiles in white or some chosen color, and after the tiles have suiiiciently hardened the form or forms. in dicated in Fig. (3, are removed, air holes 18 in the solid portions 6" and in certain of the bars 2 facilitating the removal of the form without resistance from suction.

Now, another web of tile molds 6, as shown in Fig. 7, and corresponding in outline to the mold form shown in Fig. (i. but with those parts corresponding to the tile molds 6 provided with covers ll" having air holes 18 therein, is placed upon the tile forms already produced with the formed tiles entering the covered tile'=mold,s. In this way the already formed tiles are protected and the intervening spaces in which no tiles have been formed may be filled with a suitable cement mixture and finished in the manner already described, after which the mold structure shown in Fig. 7 is -removed, thus leaving the floor covering with a web of grooves therein outlining the tiles, and withfthe latter producing such patterns as may have been determined.

By a suitablesupply of tile mold webs a great variety of designs are possible with differently colored cements with all the advantages which are obtained with the simplIe web-like molds such as shown in Fi -l llhile the showing of the drawings is far from complete as to the various possibilities of the invention, the showing made is sufficient to indicate the wide range of effects of which the invention is capable.

The showing of Fig. 1 and other like figures is that-of structures employed for the ordinary small tile forms.

Under some circumstances it is desirable to provide large tile forms, as indicated in Fig. 13, where it may be assumed that the tile is of a size known as a six inch tile, although the showing is not intended to limit the invention to any particular size. In this case the grouting 17 outlines a six inch tile 14 which, however, being of so large a size is susceptible of composite construction. It

'is assumed in the showing of Fig. 13 that after the preliminary filling of cement in the tile mold, and which filling is not sufficient to reach the top ofthe mold, a series of disks 19, such as are obtained already glued to a paper carrier, are placed in the located tile mold and are pounded .down,

with the spaces between them filled up as is bing down may be necessary,'but for'other effects, rubbing down is avoided.

The invention provides for the production of tiling effects in great variety and some effects which have not heretofore been attempted, such as those possible with the arrangement indicated in Fig. 13.

The means or apparatus employed in carrying out the hereindescribed method is not claimed in this application.

That is claimed is 1. The method of producing homogeneous or monolithic tile surfaces of extended area corresponding in appearance to surfaces of like extended area formed of many individuallylaid tiles, which consists in first producing a permanently located base of the desired extended area, locating thereon an extended mold structure of web confcimation with the webs of the mold outlining tile forms, placing a filling in each mold of the web of molds to a level with what constitutes .the top of the mold, removing the web of'molds from the placed filling after the latter has sufficiently set, applying a pro 'tecting coating to the surface so produced,

and finallyfilling the spaces left on the removal of the Web of molds with a plastic material to produce outlines in imitation of the cement used in connection with individually laid separate tiles, whereby ruboing down and smoothing of the finished surrr :v is avoided.

2. The method of producing homogeneous or monolithic tile surfaces of extended area corresponding in appearance to surfaces of like ext-ended area formed of many individually laid tiles, which consists in first producing a permanently located base of suitable cement of the desired extended area, then locating on the base an extended series of web-like molds defining tile outlines with the walls ofthe molds corresponding in thickness to the division spaces between individually laid tiles, lodging plastic material within the molds, and then smoothing off the surface level -with what constitutes the outer faces of the division walls of the molds, and subsequently removing the molds and filling in the grooves formed by the walls of the molds with plastic .material contrasting with that introduced into the molds, and then troweling the filling ma- 1 terial for the grooves to a level with the surfacesof the tile forms, a protecting coating being applied to the surface before filling in the groove to prevent staining by the material filled into the grooves.

8. In the production of homogeneous or monolithic tile surfaces, forming a basic layer of suitable material, then producing on the basic layer a' covering layer with an extended series of web-like grooves with sharply defined edges in the same plane as the remainder of the surface of the layer containing them, applying a protecting coating to the layer containing the grooves, and finally filling the grooves with contrasting plastic material and trowelingit to a level with the tops of the grooves, whereby there is produced an extended tile-like surface my own; I have hereto afixfi my signatnre with conti asting outlinesb gnd dsmoothed in the presence a?" two witness-es. witncut the necessity of ru ing own, the 1 q junction of the contrasting filling with the WILLIAM FRED "Y 5 surface ax which it is exposed being sharpiy -Witnesses:

defined. r Azef nw REUTER, In testimony that I claim theforegoing as 1km EEUW 

